Clamp for slicing-machines.



' erlands, and a resident of Laporte, county CORNELIS r. M. vi nnnxnn or.LAroRrE, mm na, Ass eiwon. To s. snrcme {MACHINE COMPANY, or LAPORTE,INDIANA,"A oonroanrron or NDIANA.

CLAMP FOR strcmemncninns.

inverse.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I.,- CoRNELrs F. M.- VAN BERKEL, a subject of the Queenof the NethofLaporte, and State of Indiana, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Clamps for Slicing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a spebification.

This invention relates to a device for hold} ing material to be slicedby the blade of a; slicing machine, and has for its object the provisionof a clamp of the character mentioned which shall be of improvedconstruction and more efiieient in its operation than slmilar devicespreviouslyknown.

The invention is exemplified in the combi-' I nation and arrangement ofparts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the followingspecification and i ismore particularly pointed out in claims. a

the appended In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top'plan view of a clampshowing one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a frag.mentary section showing details of the clutch collar; Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of.

the clamp shownin Fig. 1, Fig. '3 is a fragmentary top plan view of amodified form of theinvention, Fig. 4; is a front-elevation with partsbroken away of the device shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryelevational view showing the post grip and operating lever therefor, andFig. 6 is a section on line %6 of Fig. 5.

Th s invention comprises a clamp of the same general character as thatshown in Patent No. 1,175,025,'granted May 1st, 19 16 land includesfeatures of improvement over the structure shown in that patent.

Referring first to Figs. '1 and 2 of the drawing the numeral '10designates the plate on which the meat, or other substance to be sliced,is held while. it is being presented to the slicing knife. Atone cornerof the plate 10, adjacent the front edge'thereof, is an upright post orstandard 11 and on the diagonally opposite corner is a second similarstandard 12. Surrounding the post 11 is a sliding grip collar 13 whichfits the post somewhat loosely. The grip collar 13 is p'r rvided with avlaterally extending arm 1% on which the clamping bar 15- is mountedbyflinean's of a pivot pin 16. The clutch sleeve 13 is" provided with anupsuch movement since it is held with i tical sides parallel with thesides of the post I Specification of Letters'Patent. Patented Sept, 3,1918,- Application filed June 4, 1917. 1 Serial No; 172,634. i

vents the sleeve from gripping the post 11.

. when downward pressure is exerted on the pivot pin 16. Ifv pressure isexerted up? wardly on the pin 16 the long bearing surface 15 is throwninwardlyaway from the post 11 and, the sleeve will grip the post andresist upwardmovenient. The uppen part of the be'aring portion 17 isprovidedwith a forwardly extending finger 18 which overlies the upperedge of the clamp 13 so that when the clamp is tilted upwardly, as shownin Fig. 2, the upper edge of the clamp will j come into contact withtheloWer surface of the finger 18 and .thus tilt the ip sleeve 13 thecollar to slide upwardly. It will be ap parpnt that if theclamp 15 isheld" at the an gle shown in Fig. 2and moved bodily in' an to releaseits hold upon the po .t and permit I upward directiom the sleeve 13.Willermit;

Iver

11 under these conditions.

The endof the clamp 15, opposite the post -11, 'i's supportediby the arm19 carried by a sleeve 20 arranged to slide upon the post 12. Themovement of the sleeve 20 upon the post 12is controlled by a handle 21and a clutch grip 22. The clamp 15 is secured to the for-- I passes, hasa limited swiveling movement about a horizontal axis relative to thearm' 19, so that the clamp. 15 is free to swing about the horizontal.aXis extending'inthe' direction of the arm 19.

This. swingingward end of the arm 19 by a bolt '23 which movement,however, is so limited, that the end ofthe clamp. adjacent the post 11will .l

not swing downwardly below the position shown in Fig. 2, in whichposition the finger 18 will bear upon the upper surface of the" clamp.It. will be apparent, therefore, then when upward pressure is exertedupon thm handle 21 and the arm 19,-the clamp 15 will, assume theposition shown in Fig. 2. in

which positionthe clutchsleeve 13 will be free. to slide upon the post11 and therenicy-upward pressure-on the handle 21. In a tire device maybe raised upwardly simply similar way, the entire clamp may be moveddownwardly by simple downward movement of the handle 21, because thesleeve 13 does not resist downward pressure upon the pivot pin 16, aspreviously explained.

In operation, when the clamp has been brought intoposition to contactwith a piece of meat 25, or similar material, further downward movementwill tilt the clamp tending to force the pivot pin 16 upwardly. Thiswill be resisted by the clamp sleeve 13, however, and the result of suchdownward pressure upon the handle 21 will be to bring the clamping barfirmly into engagement far described, is all shown in the prior patentreferred to.

If a pieceof meat to be clamped is of the shapp and firm nature of apiece of bacon, for instance, it will be apparent from Fig. 2 that theclamp will first strike the corner of the meat adjacent the post 11]Further downward pressure upon the handle 21 will 5 tend to bring theend of the clamp 15 at the right in that figure into contact with theright hand side of the piece of meat, but it is readily apparent thatthe greatest pressure will be exerted on the edge of the meat adjacentthe post 11 and if the meat is very firm in character, it may happenthat the operator will not be able to bring the opposite end of theclamp into contact with the meat at all. To remedy this difliculty,applicant has provided a bar or plate 26 which ispivotally supported onthe pin 16 between the clutch sleeve 13 and the end of the clamp 15.Theplate 26 is provided with an upwardly extending shoulder 27 the upper40 surface of which normally extends to a position level with the uppersurface of the clamping .bar 15, as shown in Fig. 2. In this figure, aportion of the clamping bar 15 is broken away to permit the plate 26 tobe seen. The portion of the clamp 15 that has been removed is shown inbroken lines. The plate 26 is provided with an extension rod 28 which isprovided with an upwardly bent portion 29 which rests upon the uppersurface of the end of the arm 19 and forms a finger piece by which theplate 26 may be tilted upwardly about the pivot pm 16.

lVhen the clamp has been brought into the position shown in Fig. 2, theoperator may raise the end of the rod 29 and thus force the finger 18upwardly and release the clamping action of the collar 13 on the post11. If downward pressure is now exerted upon the handle 21, the pivotpin 16 may be tilted upwardly about the polnt of contact of the bar 15with the meat until the clamping bar has been brought into a position tocontact with the entire upper surface of the meat. The bar as 19 maythen be released wh ch W111 permit about the point of contact with themeat,-

with the piece of meat. The clamp, as thus the clutch sleeve 13 to againclamp the post 11 and further downward pressure upon the handle 21 willcause the bar to exert pressure on the meat along its entire uppersurface. It will be apparent that the position of the clamp 13 upon thebar 11 may be adjusted to any desired position and caused to grip thepost in this position for releasing the extension rod 29 when the properposition has been obtained.

In the form of invention shown in Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, the manuallyoperated plate 26 is replaced by a bell crank lever 30 pivotally mountedon one side of the bar 15, as shown at 31 in the drawings. One-end ofthe bell crank lever 30 is provided with a cylindrical lug 32 extendingbetweenprojections 33 and 31 carried by the clutch collar 13. The otherarm of the bell crank lever 30 extends to a position adjacent the loweredge of the clamping bar 15 and carries a forwardly extending bar or rod36 which supports a tripping plate 37 positioned beneath the clampingbar 15 and between the downwardly extending teeth thereof, as best shownin Fig. 6. A notch 38 (Fig. 5) is cut in the bar 15 to permit pivotalmovement of the bell crank 30 about the support 31. hen the clamping bar15 has been moved into the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the trippingplate 37 will contact with the upper surface of the meat 25 slightly inadvance of the teeth of the bar 15. hen this occurs the bell crank lever30 will be thrown upwardly, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 5, and theclutch sleeve 13 will be prevented from gripping the bar 11. This willleave the end of the bar 15 carried by the pin 16 free to tilt upwardlythe amount necessary to bring the bar 15 into a horizontal position.This upward movement of the pin 16 will carry the sleeve 13 with it andhence tilt the bell crank lever 30 upwardly at the same time that theclamping bar 15 is swinging downwardly about the pivot 16. This willcause the rod 36 to swing upwardly in its groove 38 and bring thetripping plate 37 into position between the downwardly extending rows ofteeth of the clamping bar 15. The parts are so proportioned that whenthe bar 15 has reached a horizontal position, the plate 37 will belocated between the rows of teeth of the bar so that it will no longerinterfere with the gripping action of the collar 13 which will thus befree to hold the pin 16 from upward movement so that the clamp ing barmay be made to exert pressure in a horizontal position across the entireupper surface of the meat to be clamped. It will be seen that in thisforni of the invention, the clamping bar is automatically caused toaline itself with the upper surface of the material to be clamped, sothat it is not necessary to manipulate the clamping loop 13 :by hand; asisdone in "the form previously described;

lclaimz- I ,.c

lisInya slicing machine, a clamping bar, ana-ipright 'guideiat one .endof said bar,- means for lockingsaid bar against upward movement along;said guide, and means other than. said clamping bar forreleasing saidlocking means, said releasing means guide bar positioned adjacent oneedge of said plate, a clutch collar mounted to slide .upon said guidebar, and arranged to tilt relative thereto into position to grip saidguide bar, a clamping bar pivoted to said clutch collar and arranged toexert pressure on'said collar to cause it to grip said guide bar, and anoperating device movable relative to said clamping bar' for releasingsaid clutch collar to permit movement of said clamping bar upon saidguide bar.

l. In combination, a plate for holding material to .be' sliced, anupright guide bar positioned at one side of said plate, a clutch collaradjustably mounted on said guide bar, a clampingbar carried by saidclutch collar and movable relative thereto, means for operating saidclutch collar from said clamp ing bar to release said collar and permitupward movement thereof along said guide bar, and means other than saidclamping bar for releasing said clutch collar.,

5; In combination, a bar for clamping material to be sliced, a guideforone end of said bar, means for adjustablv securing said bar to saidguide and for holding said bar against movementin one direction thereon,means for releasing said securing means whenever said bar is held inagiven position relative to said guide to permit-movement of" said baralong said guide, and a separate device for releasing said securingmeanswhen said bar is held in a different position relative to. saidguide,

6. In combination, a plate. for holding material to be sliced, a guidebar at one edge of said plate, a clamping bar having one end movablyconnected with said guide bar, means associated vith the other end ofsaid clamping bar for adjusting bothends of said clamping bar, meansforholding said clamping bar againstniovement along said guide bar, andmeansf'extending to a position.

adjacent the end said clamping llflil. opposite said guide bar,forireleasi ig said holdi-nginc-an. I c

,7. Incoinbinatioii, a guide liar, aj clamp ing bar, a clutch deviceforconnecting said clamlping, bar with said guide bar, said clutch devicebeing arranged to hold said clamping bar against movement along I guidebar in one direction and arranged to be rendered inoperative for saidholding operation when said clamping bar is in one position relative tosaid guide l ar, and

means for releasing said holding nicaus for I other positions of saidclamping liar.

S. In combination, a plate for holding material, to be sliced, a bar forclamping material to said plate, means for holding one end of said barin adjusted positions relative to said plate, and means controlled fromthe opposite end of'said bar for releasing said holding means to permitarrangement of tlieangularity ofsaid bar relative to said plate.

9, In combination, a plate for holding inaterial to be sliced, anupright guide at one side of said plate, a clamping bar, means torconnecting one :"end of said clamping liar with said guidesaid meansbeing arranged .to move freely along said guide in either direction whensaid clamping baris, held at a given angle relative to said gu de andbeing also arranged to prevent movement of said,

clamping bar along said guide when said clamping bar is held at a.different angle relative to said guide, and means for releasing saidconnecting device to permit movement of said bar relative to said guidewhen said bar is at an angle relative to said guide,

other than that angle first referred to.

10. In combination, a plate for holding material to be sliced, anupright guide bar at one side of said plate, a bar for clamping materialto said plate, a clutch device for connecting one end of said clampingbar with said guide bar, means connected with the opposite end of saidclamping bar for adjusting said bar upon said guide, and meanspositioned adjacent the last mentioned end of said clamping bar forcontrolling said connecting device to permit movement of said clampingbar on said guide bar.

11. In combination, a plate for holding material to be sliced, anupright guide bar at one side of saidplate, a clutch sleeve slidably,mounted on said guide bar and having a laterally extending projectionconnected therewith, a clamping bar having oneend pivotally connected tosaid projectionto cause said clutch sleeve to resist upward pressure onsaid clamping bar, means for releasing said clutchsleeve when saidclamping bar is held at a predetermined angle relative to saidguide barto permit upward movement of said clamping bar, and an 0P1 cratingdevice for releasing said clutch sleeve at the will of the operator.

&

12. In combination, a plate for holding material who sliced, an uprightguide'bar atone side of said plate, a clutch sleeve slidably mounted onsaid guide bar, a clamping bar connected with said sleeve in a manner tocause saidsleeve' to grip said guide bar to resist upward pressureexerted upon said clamping bar, and means for releasing said clutchsleeve at the will of theoperator and adapted to hold said sleeve inreleased position While the angle of said clamping bar is changedrelative to said plate.

13.111 combination, a plate for holding material to be sliced, anupright guide bar at one side of said plate, a clutch sleeve mounted toslide upon s aid guide bar and having an arm projecting laterallytherefrom, a clamping bar pivotally mounted on said arm and arranged tocause said clutch sleeve to grip said guide'loar when upward pressure isexerted upon said clamping bar,

and an operating rod for said clutch sleeve extending to a positionadjacent the end of said clamping bar opposite said guide barand-arranged to release said clutch sleeve at

